A MAN was fined £500 for his part in the car accident that killed his girlfriend.

Martin Roberts had been charged with causing death by dangerous driving but was found guilty of the lesser offence of careless driving by a jury on Friday.

Roberts had always denied driving dangerously in the collision, that occurred at around 9.20pm on July 24, 2005, and resulted in the death of former Frodsham High School student Kirsty Dyson, 23.

The court heard that the road was wet at the time of the incident following earlier torrential rain.

Judge David Hale, who also disqualified the defendant from driving for six months, said: 'You must know and will know for the rest of your life that your careless driving did in fact kill Kirsty.

'Nothing I can say by way of penalty will seem anything other than totally derisive to a parent.

'The family will feel that this fine reflects the value of their daughter, it's not meant to be that.'

Roberts, 24, of Allport Road, Brom-borough, lost control of his red BMW on a bend on the A56 between Mickle Trafford and Dunham Hill and crashed into the wall of a garage fore-court.

Three witnesses, in a Volkswagen Golf in front of the BMW, had told the court that they estimated its speed to be around 80mph as he overtook them shortly before the bend.

Anna Stoops, a front seat passenger in the Golf, told the court 'He was doing considerably more (than us) - 80 or 90mph, I can't be sure. I was quite shocked he'd chosen to overtake at that point. It was very, very close to the corner.'

In a police interview that was read to the court Roberts said that there 'wasn't a chance in hell' he'd been travelling at 80mph.

He also claimed he'd overtaken the Volkswagen before Morley bridge - some distance before the bend on which the accident happened - despite the fact that all three witnesses who had been in that car said he completed the manoeuvre after the bridge.

He added that he had been distracted by his lights reflecting off a puddle.

Roberts stated repeatedly that he felt it was safer to overtake the slower moving Volkswagen.

In cross examination, Myles Wilson, prosecuting said: 'How on earth could overtaking a car be safer than waiting in a lane driving behind it?'

Evidence from an expert suggested the BMW was travelling at 54 to 60mph when Robert's lost control.